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U.K. terror laws an "affront to justice''

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: British Government's controversial anti-terror laws have been thrown into a crisis after the High Court ruled that they were an "affront to justice'' and in breach of human rights.

The ruling came in a case challenging the powers of the Home Secretary to issue "control orders'' against foreign nationals suspected of terrorist links effectively putting them under house arrest.

Control orders require the alleged suspects to be kept under 24-hour surveillance, and their movements are heavily curtailed.

Delivering the verdict, the judge, Mr. Justice Sullivan, said the measure was "conspicuously unfair'' and inconsistent with human rights laws.

The Government's claim that there were sufficient safeguards to protect a suspect's rights were simply a "thin veneer'' of legality, he ruled. The challenge was mounted by a man, identified only as "MB'' who argued that he had been wrongly accused of being involved in terrorist activity. He was issued "control orders'' which meant that his normal life was disrupted.

The judge observed: "The issue raised in these proceedings is whether the [anti-terrorism] Act gives the respondent the fair hearing to which he is entitled. The answer to that question is: no.''

Rights groups hailed the ruling as a vindication of their stand that the anti-terror laws introduced by the Government in the wake of 9/11 attacks were "scandalous,'' as Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty put it. But the Government stood it and said it would appeal.

The row erupted as a new law banning "glorification'' of terrorism came into effect.

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